Tennis Podcast: Stop Choking in Matches
March 29, 2009 by PatrickCohn
Welcome to session number fourteen of The Tennis Psychology Podcast. Dr. Patrick Cohn at Sports Psychology for Tennis, is a mental game of tennis expert and helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure using sports psychology strategies.
In this week’s tennis psychology session, Dr. Cohn and Tomaz Mencinger (www.TennisMindGame.com) discuss the mental challenges of playing with tension. Dr. Cohn and Tomaz Mencinger talk about what can hold players back from playing relaxed.
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Tennis Confidence Video 4: Self-Confidence
March 24, 2009 by PatrickCohn
In my tennis confidence video series, you’ll learn about the top mental game reasons players have trouble taking their practice game to matches. Inability to perform up to ones potential in competition is the number one reason athletes contact me to help improve their mental game of tennis!
In the Tennis Confidence Video number 4, I discuss the fourth reason tennis players under perform in matches compared to their practice performance. You learn why lack of match self-confidence can prevent you from performing up to your ability in matches and what you can do to take more confidence into matches.
Watch my tennis confidence video below:
Watch Tennis Confidence Video 1 to find out why the academy mindset can hold you back in matches.
Watch Tennis Confidence Video 2 to find out how fear of failure can get in the way of your performance.
Watch Tennis Confidence Video 3 to find out how trying too hard can undermine your performance in matches.
Please leave your comments or suggestions for future videos below.
James Blake: How to Put Loses Behind You
March 24, 2009 by PatrickCohn
Do you beat yourself up after you’ve lost a match? Do you have a hard time forgetting about your losses or matches where you’ve played poorly?
If you do, you might define your self or person (not player) based on your tennis performance. You essentially attach your self-esteem to your tennis performance. This is a common mistake that many tennis players make.
When you define your self based on your tennis performance in matches, you might use tennis as a way to boost your self-esteem, or feel better about yourself.
But, what happens when your tennis game isn’t working the way you want it to? You don’t feel good about yourself. You can’t forget your losses or matches where you played poorly.
The key is to learn to separate your self-esteem from your tennis performance. This isn’t always easy to do, but James Blake has mastered how to get past his losses.
Blake recently lost to Gonzales at the BNP Baribas Open in the third round.
“When I get off the tennis court, I put it behind me. I have to put the losses behind me. I think you have to do that, especially at this age. I beat myself up so much the first few years I was on tour, and, you know, still get pretty upset at myself. But I’m doing much better job now hopefully tomorrow putting it behind me and not worrying about it. Just forget about tennis for a day or two, and then get back to the practice court and worry about getting better, not worried about what I did poorly today,” said Blake.
Mind training for tennis can help you separate how you feel about yourself as a person from your tennis performance. The key is to realize you are a person that happens to play tennis, not the other way around. Tennis is just part of your life, and does not define your life.
Try to find a balance in your life. Find other hobbies or activities to help you define yourself outside of tennis. You can also think about who you are as a person, not just a tennis player. Think about the characteristics of your personality. Are you honest, decisive or easy going for example? These exercises can help you think of yourself as a person and not just as a tennis player.
As Blake says, you have to leave tennis on the tennis court. Many players bring home their poorly played matches with them. They might over-analyze their mistakes, second guess their strategy or beat themselves up. This of course doesn’t help your self-confidence for the next match. You might be still thinking about your previous loss.
You can re-visit your match later on when you feel your negative emotions have settled. Review your match objectively. This can help you learn from your mistakes, develop better strategies and improve as a tennis player.
Your tennis psychology tip for today is to leave tennis on the court. Learn who you are as a person rather than just an athlete. Learn from your losses rather than dwelling on your poor performances. Understand that you are more than a win/loss record, you are a person on the inside!
Tennis Podcast: Mental Game and Technique
March 22, 2009 by PatrickCohn
Welcome to session number 13 of The Tennis Psychology Podcast. Dr. Patrick Cohn at Sports Psychology for Tennis, is a mental game of tennis expert and helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure using sports psychology strategies.
In this week’s tennis psychology session, Dr. Cohn talks with tennis instructor, Paul Gold about the inner game of tennis. You’ll learn how the mental game can help improve your technique.
A strong mental game can help tennis players trust their strokes and play freely in matches. Players can learn to improve their mental game along with their technique.
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*Submit your mental game of tennis question to Dr. Cohn at Peak Performance Sports
Don’t Compare Your Ranking to Opponent’s
March 18, 2009 by PatrickCohn
After working with several junior tennis players on their mental game, I’ve noticed that players limit their success when they focus on opponent rankings or tournament seeding. As you might already know, comparing your tennis skills to an opponent is a mental game no-no in my book.
When you make comparisons to your opponents, you are admitting that they are better than you! When you look at the draws to find out who you play in a tournament, do you focus on seeding or player ranking?
What’s the mental game of tennis danger in comparing your ranking to your opponents’ ranking? You make too many assumptions (or generalizations) about who should win and who should lose the match. These assumptions turn into expectations. It may seem logical that the number one seed should beat the number two seed right? You know this is not always the case and this type of thinking can cause a poor mind game for tournament tennis.
Why? If you are losing the match to a higher seeded player (that you think should win the match), how will you react? Yes, you’ll confirm your pre-determined expectations about who should win the match and then tank it. You won’t be willing to fight back after losing the first set. You’ll engage with the “here I go again…” syndrome.
I know it’s hard to not pay attention to who you are playing and your opponent’s ranking or number of wins. I also realize that you can prepare your game depending on the style of your opponent’s game. So you could argue that knowing who you are playing can be an advantage. However, in most cases it’s not helpful to your mental game when you compare your ranking to other players in the tournament.
Then on the other side of the situation, players feel expectations from others to win if they are the better player or have a higher ranking. Your expectations about winning can turn into added pressure to win and fear of failure about losing.
You’re tennis psychology tip for today: Don’t focus on your opponent’s ranking or the tournament seeding. Think strategy instead. Focus on your strengths instead of comparing yourself to other players. Think about how you can perform your best no matter the level of the opposition.
Tennis Confidence Video 3: Trying too Hard?
March 17, 2009 by PatrickCohn
In my tennis confidence video series, you’ll learn about the top mental game reasons players under perform in matches compared to their performance in practice. This is the number one reason athletes contact me to help improve their mental game of tennis!
In the Tennis Confidence Video number 3, I discuss the third reason tennis players under perform in matches compared to their practice performance. You learn why trying too hard can prevent you from performing up to your ability in matches.
If you missed Tennis Confidence Video 1, check out why the academy mindset can hold you back in matches.
If you missed Tennis Confidence Video 2, find out how fear of failure can get in the way of your performance.
Please leave your comments or suggestions for future videos below.
Podcast: Do Kids Embrace Mental Training?
March 15, 2009 by PatrickCohn
Some young tennis players aren’t convinced about the importance of the mental game. That can be a challenge for sports parents and coaches, who find the mental game an important part of performance. In this week’s tennis psychology session, you’ll learn how to help your young tennis player embrace mental training.
Dr. Cohn teaches you how to help tennis players recognize the importance of the mental game of tennis.
The Tennis Psychology Podcast by Dr. Patrick Cohn at Sports Psychology for Tennis, is a mental game of tennis expert and helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure using sports psychology strategies.
Use the audio player to listen to The Tennis Psychology Podcast or download the file to your computer below:
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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #12 (right click and “save as” to your computer)
Subscribe to The Tennis Psychology Podcast via iTunes
*Submit your mental game of tennis question to Dr. Cohn at Peak Performance Sports
Tennis Podcast: Staying Calm when Winning
March 8, 2009 by PatrickCohn
Many tennis players become too anxious or excited when they’re winning the match. Sometimes they can’t put the match away! In this week’s tennis psychology session, you’ll learn how to stay calm and focused when you’re in the lead.
Dr. Cohn teaches you the mental strategies to boost your focus and stay relaxed in matches. You’ll learn how to play one point at a time.
The Tennis Psychology Podcast by Dr. Patrick Cohn at Sports Psychology for Tennis, is a mental game of tennis expert and helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure using sports psychology strategies.
Use the audio player to listen to The Tennis Psychology Podcast or download the file to your computer below:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #11 (right click and “save as” to your computer)
Subscribe to The Tennis Psychology Podcast via iTunes
*Submit your mental game of tennis question to Dr. Cohn at Peak Performance Sports
Mardy Fish Wins Ugly to Capture Third Title
March 6, 2009 by PatrickCohn
Mardy Fish captured his third ATP title beating Evgeny Korolev 7-5, 6-3 at the Delray Beach International Championships on Sunday. In the past, Fish struggled to come home with the win when he got the to the finals. Fish has reached 10 finals in his tennis career, winning just three titles. But, Fish was able to set his record aside to stay confident and focused in the final in adverse weather conditions.
“I’ve certainly lost my share of finals. I lost 7-6 in third in Cincinnati, 6-4 in the third in Indian Wells and [6-4] in the fifth at the Olympics. Even one of those turns into a pretty good career. For whatever reason I put myself in the position. Keep knocking on the door, hopefully, eventually I’ll knock it down,” said Fish.
Fish prevailed with mental toughness to win his third title. Winning his third title wasn’t easy. Of course, his opponent Korolev presented some physical and strategic challenges. But, Fish also had to cope with rough weather conditions.
The first set was interrupted by a rain delay for over an hour. As play resumed, temperatures fell and wind gusts reached up to 25 mph.
Adverse weather conditions can be a source of anxiety or frustration for tennis players. Tennis players might be frustrated with the sun in their eyes when serving. Or, players might be frustrated with gusty winds that throw off their footwork and racquet preparation.
Mentally tough tennis players love to play in tough weather conditions. It gives them the mental edge. They love to win ugly. Winning ugly means your performance may not look pretty, but you use what’s working to get the job done. You’re not worried about playing perfect tennis or how your shots look. You’re focused on getting the ball to your target anyway you can.
“Conditions were tough. Today kind of reminded me almost of a first-round match at an event that you’d like to do well at. You literally just want to get off the court with the ‘W’ – you couldn’t care less how it looks,” said Fish.
“Obviously it didn’t feel like a first-round match, but it felt like the latter part. I don’t care what the score is. I don’t care how it looks. I need to get off this court with the win” said Fish.
Your tennis psychology lesson for today: Everyone has to cope with the same conditions in tennis. Mentally tough tennis players adjust their game so they can get the job done and win ugly if necessary. Use your shots that work for the conditions instead of forcing the way you should play tennis.
Tennis Confidence Video 2: Fear of Failure
March 3, 2009 by PatrickCohn
In my tennis confidence video series, you’ll learn about the top mental game reasons players under perform in matches compared to their performance in practice. This is the number one reason athletes contact me to help improve their mental game of tennis!
In Tennis Confidence Video number two, you learn how fear of failure prevents you or your players from performing freely and confidently in matches.
If you missed Tennis Confidence Video 1, check out why the academy mindset can hold you back in matches.
Watch tennis confidence video two below and be sure to leave you comments at the bottom of the page!
Please leave your comments about my tennis confidence videos below:
